First Edition: June 24, 2019
Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Kaiser Health News:
Non-English Speakers Would Be Disadvantaged By Trump Administration Plan To Ease Language Rules On Health Notices
A federal regulation demands that certain health care organizations provide patients who have limited English skills a written notice of free translation services. But the Trump administration wants to ease those regulations and also no longer require that directions be given to patients on how they can report discrimination they experience.The changes could save $3.16 billion over five years for the health care industry, according to the administration. (Heredia Rodriguez, 6/24)
Kaiser Health News:
Polydrug Addiction On Rise As Opioid Crisis Mixes With Resurgence In Meth Use
In the 25 years since she snorted her first line of meth at a club in San Francisco, Kim has redefined “normal” so many times. At first, she said, it seemed like meth brought her back to her true self — the person she was before her parents divorced, and before her stepfather moved in. “I felt normal when I first did it, like, ‘Oh! There I am,’” she said.Kim is 47 now, and she has been chasing normal her entire adult life. That chase has brought her to some dark places, so she asked us not to use her last name. For a long time, meth, also known as speed, was Kim’s drug of choice. (Dembosky, 6/24)
The Washington Post:
Voters Have Big Health-Care Worries, But Not The Ones Democrats Are Talking About
Medicare-for-all. Medicare for all who want it. Health care as a form of freedom. As they campaign, most of the 23 Democratic candidates for president are trumpeting bold ideas to achieve the party’s long-held dream of ushering in health coverage for every American. The problem is that many voters are not focused on such lofty goals. They want something simpler — to pay less for their own health care. (Goldstein, 6/21)
The New York Times:
‘Medicare For All’ Vs. ‘Public Option’: The 2020 Field Is Split, Our Survey Shows
“Medicare for all” is the hottest idea in the Democratic presidential race for overhauling the nation’s health care system, and it is a phrase quite likely to be heard repeatedly at the first debates this week. But despite all the buzz, it turns out that the concept is dividing the 2020 field. A new survey of the Democratic candidates by The New York Times finds that many of them prefer less sweeping changes than the Medicare for All Act, the single-payer bill introduced by Senator Bernie Sanders and supported by Senator Elizabeth Warren and several other presidential hopefuls. A majority of candidates in the survey — including former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., the leader in early polls — said they would rather add a “public option” in the health care system that would compete with private plans. (Gabriel and Goodnough, 6/23)
The New York Times:
How The Democratic Candidates Responded To A Health Care Policy Survey
The New York Times asked all 23 Democratic presidential candidates for their views on the best ways to improve the health care system. We received responses from 19 of them. The first three questions asked whether the candidates supported three possible routes for changing how Americans receive health insurance: by creating a “Medicare for all” system that would eliminate private insurance; by providing a choice between a “public option” health care plan run by the government and private insurance; or by making more modest changes to the Affordable Care Act. (6/23)
Politico:
2020 Candidates Views On The Issues: A Voter’s Guide
The most comprehensive guide anywhere to the issues shaping the 2020 Democratic presidential primary. Search by candidate, issue or category. (6/24)
Politico:
Democratic Group's Poll Shows Trump Vulnerable With His Base On Health Care
The Democratic research group American Bridge is preparing a $50 million campaign to win over a slice of President Donald Trump’s base, and new polling has convinced the organization that Trump is vulnerable on pocketbook issues, especially health care, among white working-class voters. The battleground-state polling is a new step in American Bridge’s plans to target Trump voters in small towns and rural areas with ads linking local events to unpopular Trump policies. (Bland, 6/24)
The Associated Press:
2020 Democrats Strongly Defend Abortion Rights At Forum
Twenty Democratic presidential candidates attending a Planned Parenthood forum on Saturday vowed to defend abortion rights under nearly any circumstance while largely ignoring nuances around the issue that have already roiled their party heading into the 2020 election. The event sponsored by Planned Parenthood Action Fund — the group's political arm — was the first of the election season centered on abortion. It came on the sidelines of the South Carolina Democratic Party's state convention, a pivotal gathering of the party faithful in the South's first primary state. (6/22)
The Wall Street Journal:
Democratic Candidates Unite In Support For Abortion Rights
In total, 20 of the 23 Democratic candidates spoke at the Planned Parenthood Action Fund’s “We Decide: 2020 Election Membership Forum.” Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, Miramar, Fla., Mayor Wayne Messam and Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard didn’t attend the Planned Parenthood event. The event was held just over two weeks after Mr. Biden—who leads the Democratic field in nationwide and state polls—reversed his long-held support for the measure, after Democratic candidates and groups like Planned Parenthood Action Fund criticized him. (Collins, 6/22)
The Hill:
2020 Democrats Vow To Expand Abortion Access At Planned Parenthood Event
The forum, hosted by Planned Parenthood in South Carolina, presented candidates with an opportunity to stand out on an issue that’s driven the Democratic primary so far. But the forum also highlighted differences between candidates, with some, like Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.) vowing to go further than others to protect and expand abortion access. (6/22)
The Washington Post:
Biden Defends Record On Abortion At Planned Parenthood Forum
A military veteran from West Virginia rose from the audience, her voice quivering as she relayed to former vice president Joe Biden that she’d been sexually assaulted multiple times and had had three abortions. Now an activist, Peshka Calloway told Biden that she had been able to use Medicaid to pay for her abortions, but today, women in similar situations cannot because West Virginia last year adopted a law stricter than the federal ban on funding for abortions, known as the Hyde Amendment. The Post typically does not identify victims of sexual assault but is naming her because she spoke in a public forum. (Itkowitz and Davies, 6/22)
The Hill:
Biden Talks About Abortion At Planned Parenthood Event, Without Saying The Word 'Abortion'
Former vice president Joe Biden stumbled to explain how he would expand and protect abortion access during a Planned Parenthood event Saturday, instead skating around the issue and failing to say the word "abortion" even once. Biden, who has been criticized on his abortion record by Democrats and activists, used euphemisms to refer to abortion access, including “reproductive rights,” “access to choice” and “access to the Supreme Court decisions.” (Hellmann, 6/22)
Politico:
Biden's Stands On Abortion Remain A Mystery After Hyde Flap
Joe Biden’s recent flip on federal funding for abortions has activists on both sides wondering: What does he believe now when it comes to reproductive rights? For decades, the former vice president opposed late-term and so-called partial birth abortions, lamenting that one ban enacted in the 1990s did not go far enough. He supported Republican presidents’ prohibitions on funding for groups that promote abortions overseas, and backed legislation that would have allowed states to overturn Roe v. Wade. He even fought unsuccessfully to widen religious groups’ exemptions from the Affordable Care Act’s mandate for birth control coverage. (Ollstein, 6/21)
The Hill:
Hillary Clinton Slams Title X 'Gag Rule': 'It's Up To All Of Us To Fight Back'
Hillary Clinton told activists to "fight back" on Friday after a federal judge ruled that the Trump administration could bar Title X providers from offering abortion services. Clinton tweeted Friday morning that the move was part of a widespread GOP effort to roll back abortion rights across the country and warned that it would extend to all reproductive health care, not just abortion. (Bowden, 6/21)
USA Today:
Exclusive: 'The VA Is Two-Faced.' Whistleblowers Say Managers Are Trying To Silence Them On Veteran Care
Three Veterans Affairs health care professionals who reported patient care issues say the agency continues to try to silence them, jeopardizing veterans and undercutting a key Trump promise of whistleblower protection. They work at different sites – in the Phoenix area, Baltimore, and Iowa City, Iowa – yet the VA response has been similar. All were stripped of assigned patient-care and oversight duties, and they suspect VA managers are retaliating against them for speaking out, and sidelining them to prevent them from discovering or disclosing any more problems with veteran health care. (Slack, 6/22)
The Hill:
VA Employees Say Agency Is Actively Retaliating Against Whistleblowers
"The VA is two-faced: What it says it does and what it actually does are two entirely different things," Mitchell told USA Today. "Whistleblowers who are brave enough to report problems serve as a vital safety net for veterans. If people can’t identify problems, veterans will suffer and die. That’s what it boils down to." "As a physician, nurse, and basically as a human being, I will not back down if someone’s health or safety is being threatened," she added in the interview. (Bowden, 6/22)
The New York Times:
Veterans Agency To Offer New Depression Drug, Despite Cost And Safety Concerns
Confronted by a rising rate of suicides in some groups of veterans., the Department of Veterans Affairs on Friday decided to approve the use of a new and costly depression drug, despite concerns among doctors and other experts about the drug’s effectiveness. The decision to endorse the drug — called Spravato, and manufactured by Janssen, a unit of Johnson & Johnson — came days after President Trump offered to negotiate a deal between the drug maker and the agency. Johnson & Johnson reportedly was working with associates at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club, and the company has been supporting V.A. suicide-prevention efforts. (Carey and Steinhauer, 6/21)
Center For Public Integrity:
Controversial J&J Drug Pushed By Trump Is Nixed From VA's Pharmacy List
A Department of Veterans Affairs panel has pushed back against efforts to rush a controversial anti-depression drug into use for its patients, voting not to include the drug, Spravato, on its list of drugs available through prescription at its pharmacies. The VA had been racing to get Spravato ready for patients after President Trump, according to VA sources, urged the agency to buy the Johnson & Johnson drug for treatment-resistant depression. But psychiatrists and medical researchers, including some at the VA, have raised questions about the drug’s effectiveness and safety. (Cary, 6/21)
Stat:
VA Declines Broad Coverage For New J&J Depression Drug Touted By Trump
Many experts have embraced the medication, which is known as esketamine and is being sold by Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) under the brand name Spravato, as a critical option for patients in dire need of new treatments — particularly because it might work faster than existing antidepressants. But it has faced pushback since its approval in March, with some watchdog groups citing effectiveness and safety concerns. (Facher and Silverman, 6/21)
The New York Times:
New Sex Drug For Women To Improve Low Libido Is Approved By The F.D.A.
The Food and Drug Administration has approved a new drug to treat low sexual drive in women, the only one besides Addyi, which entered the market in 2015. The drug, to be called Vyleesi, will be sold by AMAG Pharmaceuticals and is intended to be used 45 minutes before sex, via an auto-injector pen that is administered in the thigh or abdomen. (Thomas, 6/21)
The Washington Post:
A New ‘Female Viagra’ Approved By FDA Despite Skepticism
“There are women who, for no known reason, have reduced sexual desire that causes marked distress, and who can benefit from safe and effective pharmacologic treatment,” Hylton Joffe, director of the FDA Center for Drug Evaluation and Research’s Division of Bone, Reproductive and Urologic Products, said in a statement. “Today’s approval provides women with another treatment option for this condition. As part of the FDA’s commitment to protect and advance the health of women, we’ll continue to support the development of safe and effective treatments for female sexual dysfunction.” (Cha and McGinley, 6/21)
Stat:
FDA Approves Controversial Women's Libido Drug
Vyleesi’s demonstrated increases in reported desire, measured on a five-point scale, are small. But AMAG Pharmaceuticals, the drug’s manufacturer, contends that even a seemingly marginal improvement can make a major difference for women with HSDD. The drug’s most common side effect is nausea, which affected 40% of women in clinical trials, and the FDA advises women against taking more than one dose within 24 hours or more than eight doses per month. (Garde, 6/21)
The Hill:
FDA Approves Drug To Restore Sexual Desire For Women
About one in 10 premenopausal women in the U.S. suffer from hypoactive sexual desire disorder, according to Unblush, a website that offers women information on the condition. (Axelrod, 6/21)
The Washington Post:
Migrant Detainees Aren't Entitled To Toothbrushes, Soap, Government Argues
The government went to federal court this week to argue that it shouldn’t be required to give detained migrant children toothbrushes, soap, towels, showers or even half a night’s sleep inside Border Patrol detention facilities. The position bewildered a panel of three judges in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit on Tuesday, who questioned whether government lawyers sincerely believed they could describe the temporary detention facilities as “safe and sanitary” if children weren’t provided adequate toiletries and sleeping conditions. One circuit judge said it struck him as “inconceivable." (Flynn, 6/21)
The New York Times:
‘Stop Repeating History’: Plan To Keep Migrant Children At Former Internment Camp Draws Outrage
For Satsuki Ina, who was born in a Japanese-American internment camp during World War II, the news that the United States would detain undocumented migrant children at this Army base in Oklahoma felt like an unwelcome wallop from the past. The base, Fort Sill, Okla., once held 700 Japanese-Americans who lived in tents in desertlike heat, surrounded by barbed wire and guards. They were among the more than 100,000 residents of Japanese ancestry who were rounded up by the government during the war and placed in detention camps around the country. (Fenwick, 6/22)
The Washington Post:
Viewing Chain-Link 'Cages' At U.S. Border, Central American Officials Pledge More Immigration Cooperation
The chain-link fence holding pens of the Border Patrol’s largest processing center was stuffed with more than 2,000 people when the first ladies of the Northern Triangle arrived here Thursday for a visit. The converted former warehouse that migrants and some U.S. agents deride as the “dog pound” for its “cages” had been set up as an overflow holding site during the Obama administration, and it is far beyond its capacity now. At the entrance, the delegation of Central American officials and U.S. Homeland Security leaders were warned about respiratory illnesses inside, but they turned down offers for masks and entered. (Miroff, 6/21)
Politico:
Agriculture Department Buries Studies Showing Dangers Of Climate Change
The Trump administration has refused to publicize dozens of government-funded studies that carry warnings about the effects of climate change, defying a longstanding practice of touting such findings by the Agriculture Department’s acclaimed in-house scientists. The studies range from a groundbreaking discovery that rice loses vitamins in a carbon-rich environment — a potentially serious health concern for the 600 million people world-wide whose diet consists mostly of rice — to a finding that climate change could exacerbate allergy seasons to a warning to farmers about the reduction in quality of grasses important for raising cattle. (Bottemiller Evich, 6/23)
The Associated Press:
Medical Groups Warn Climate Change Is A 'Health Emergency'
As Democratic presidential hopefuls prepare for their first 2020 primary debate this week, 74 medical and public health groups aligned on Monday to push for a series of consensus commitments to combat climate change, bluntly defined by the organizations as "a health emergency." The new climate change agenda released by the groups, including the American Medical Association and the American Heart Association, comes amid early jostling among Democratic candidates over whose environmental platform is more progressive. (Schor, 6/24)
Reuters:
Missouri Orders Lone Abortion Clinic To Close; Judge Keeps It Open For Now
Missouri health officials on Friday refused to renew the license of the state's only abortion clinic, but the facility will remain open for now as a judge left in place an injunction blocking its closure. At a brief state circuit court hearing on Friday, Judge Michael Stelzer said it might be days before the court would come to a decision on whether the state could shut its only abortion clinic, which is operated by women's healthcare and abortion provider Planned Parenthood. (Langellier, 6/21)
The Washington Post:
The Fate Of The Last Abortion Clinic In Missouri Rests With A Judge After State Denies License
In a news conference Friday, health department director Randall Williams said the agency denied the clinic’s application because they have corrected only four of the 30 deficiencies that inspectors identified. He again cited concerns over multiple “failed abortions," which required additional procedures, and a patient who suffered life-threatening complications. The issues have been central to the state’s case against Planned Parenthood. (Thebault, 6/21)
The Hill:
Missouri's Only Planned Parenthood Clinic Loses Bid For License, Will Stay Open For Now
But the St. Louis clinic will stay open, at least temporarily, under a preliminary injunction issued by Judge Michael Stelzer last month. Planned Parenthood sued the state in May for making the renewal of its abortion license conditional on interviews with the clinic's doctors as part of an investigation. Planned Parenthood said the doctors were residents, not employees of the clinic and could not be compelled to do interviews. (Hellmann, 6/21)
The Wall Street Journal:
Missouri Health Department Declines To Renew License For State's Last Abortion Clinic
Earlier this month, Circuit Judge Michael Stelzer set a June 21 deadline for the state’s health department to decide whether to renew the clinic’s license. With the department’s decision Friday, the judge must now weigh next steps. At the hearing, Judge Stelzer said he would issue at least one more order on the case, taking into account the state’s decision not to renew the license. “I can’t imagine that injunction can stand for too long,” said Rigel Oliveri, a professor at the University of Missouri School of Law. “That’s a tough spot for the court to be in, ordering a medical facility to be open when it’s been ordered to be closed for patient safety reasons.” (Calfas, 6/21)
NPR:
Missouri Abortion Provider Denied License Renewal By State Officials
A spokeswoman for the St. Louis facility said the license issue would impact only part of the clinic, meaning that even if abortion services were to end, other gynecological and reproductive health services would continue. Critics of the state's decision not to renew the license say top officials in Missouri are using the state regulatory process as a means of pursuing an anti-abortion-access political agenda. (Allyn, 6/21)
CNN:
Abortion Rights Are Getting Stronger In Blue States This Year
The red-state drive to ban or severely limit access to abortion this year has sparked the opposite reaction in Democratic-led states, where lawmakers are cementing abortion rights and making it more accessible. Driving the moves on both sides is the rightward shift of the US Supreme Court, which is fanning fears on the left that the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that made abortion legal in the US could be gutted or overturned altogether. (Luhby, 6/22)
Los Angeles Times:
Georgia's Abortion Ban Forces Political Reckoning Among TV And Film Workers
Zombies lurk beyond the train tracks. They have been here for years, working under lights, swatting mosquitoes, bringing eerie charm to streets of gothic homes and magnolia. Tourists come from as far away as Japan to glimpse the set of “The Walking Dead,” which has become a neighbor in this town of Bible school classes and soft-serve ice cream. The show, like many film and TV productions, was drawn to Georgia over the last decade by big tax breaks. Legislators were welcoming and the locals, including those in Senoia, adjusted to shooting schedules and the generally liberal inclinations of thousands of set designers, prop masters, actors, makeup artists and others who descended from California, New York and other film states. (Fleishman, 6/23)
The Associated Press:
No Charges In Kentucky Anti-Abortion Activist Assault Case
A Kentucky grand jury has declined to indict a Louisville woman accused of attacking an 82-year-old anti-abortion protester while leaving a women's clinic. Court records show a grand jury decided against an assault charge on Thursday for 32-year-old Janaya Alyce Gregory, who is accused of knocking Donna Durning down outside Kentucky's only abortion clinic in April. The longtime anti-abortion activist was hospitalized with a broken femur and cut to her head. (6/21)
The Hill:
Key Trump Proposal To Lower Drug Prices Takes Step Forward
One of President Trump’s major proposals to lower drug prices took a step forward on Friday. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) sent to the White House for review a proposal to lower certain drug prices in Medicare by linking them to the lower prices paid in other countries, an idea called the international pricing index. (Sullivan, 6/21)
The Washington Post:
‘Urgent Needs From Head To Toe’: This Clinic Had Two Days To Fix A Lifetime Of Needs
They were told to arrive early if they wanted to see a doctor, so Lisa and Stevie Crider left their apartment in rural Tennessee almost 24 hours before the temporary medical clinic was scheduled to open. They packed a plastic bag with what had become their daily essentials after 21 years of marriage: An ice pack for his recurring chest pain. Tylenol for her swollen feet. Peroxide for the abscess in his mouth. Gatorade for her low blood sugar and chronic dehydration. They took a bus into the center of Cleveland, Tenn., a manufacturing town of 42,000, and slept for a few hours at a budget motel. (Saslow, 6/22)
NPR:
'Sober Curious'? Taking A Break From Booze Is Trendy And Helps Health
According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 86 percent of adults over 18 report having had an alcoholic drink or drinks at some point in their lifetime, and 56 percent say they've had alcohol in the past month. Still, abstaining from alcohol — on a short-term basis or longer term — is becoming more common. "Not everybody wants to get wasted when they go to the bar," says Forte. Sometimes, being there is just about wanting to be social and fit in. (Fulton and Aubrey, 6/23)
The Associated Press:
'Michael Jackson Drug' Still Prompts Curiosity From Patients
It remains the most widely used anesthetic in U.S. hospitals, but many patients still remember propofol as the drug that killed Michael Jackson. Most are no longer afraid of it, doctors say, though many still ask if they will get "the Michael Jackson drug" before an operation. And most of them will. (6/22)
The New York Times:
For Vitiligo Patients, New Treatments Offer Hope
Stella Pavlides has vitiligo. It’s an autoimmune condition in which the body attacks the cells, called melanocytes, that give skin its color. She was 22 years old and studying to be a court reporter when she first developed unsightly white patches on her hands and feet, then around her mouth, eyes, arms, legs and groin. “People say vitiligo doesn’t kill you, but it kills your spirit,” she told me. “Kids get stared at, spit on, beaten up.” Although the condition is most obvious and often most emotionally and socially devastating when it afflicts dark-skinned people, Ms. Pavlides said her disorder was painfully apparent on her light tawny Greek skin. (Brody, 6/24)
The New York Times:
The ‘Euphoria’ Teenagers Are Wild. But Most Real Teenagers Are Tame.
Teenage dramas have typically presented a soapy view of high school, with more sex, drugs and wild behavior than in real life. But HBO’s new series “Euphoria” portrays a youth bacchanal that’s a stretch even for Hollywood. The show suggests that our modern society, with its smartphone dating apps, internet pornography and designer drugs, has made teenage life more extreme and dangerous than ever before. Actually, nearly the opposite is true. (Sanger-Katz and Aaron E. Carroll, 6/23)
The Washington Post:
Kidney Stone Season Arrives With Summer Temperatures
With temperatures heating up, thoughts turn to beach days, cooling drinks and much-awaited vacations. For urologists, however, the coming of summer signals something else: kidney stones. It’s true: Kidney stones have been associated with warmer weather in the United States and worldwide. And kidney stone season may be getting even longer with the effects of climate change and global warming — especially in already warm climates. This is caused, at least in part, from dehydration due to increased temperatures, and is even more true during summer months. (Rosario-Santiago, 6/22)
The Wall Street Journal:
Shots Go On A Health Kick
The newcomer in the beverage case probably won’t quench your thirst and may not even taste that great. And that is part of the appeal, makers say. They are called wellness shots, typically packaged in petite 2-ounce bottles and touting benefits such as a spark of energy or a boost to the immune system. With sharp-flavored ingredients such as garlic, habanero pepper and apple-cider vinegar, fans say they offer a quick pick-me-up—but have to be gulped down quickly. (Chaker, 6/23)
The Washington Post:
False Confessions And How They Happen
If you were under interrogation, would you confess to a crime you didn’t commit? It’s more common than you might think. According to the National Registry of Exonerations, 27 percent of people in the registry who were accused of homicide gave false confessions, and 81 percent of people with mental illness or intellectual disabilities did the same when they were accused of homicide. (Blakemore, 6/23)
The Washington Post:
'I Was Just Clawing At Myself': The Medical Mystery Of A Woman's Unrelenting Itchiness
Leslie Lavender knew that the outfit she wore to her younger daughter’s wedding in April 2017 was unusual for the mother of the bride. But dark pants and a long-sleeved top, she decided, were the best way to hide the damage caused by an incessant itch impervious to antihistamines, dietary changes and special creams. “I was just clawing at myself,” recalled Lavender, then 60, who lives in Stockton Springs, a tiny town 110 miles north of Portland, Maine. (Boodman, 6/22)
Reuters:
U.S. Psychoanalysts Apologize For Labeling Homosexuality An Illness
The American Psychoanalytic Association (APsaA) apologized on Friday for previously treating homosexuality as a mental illness, saying its past errors contributed to discrimination and trauma for LGBTQ people. It may be the first U.S. medical or mental health organization to issue such an apology. Although psychiatrists declassified homosexuality as a disorder in 1973 and psychoanalysts came around nearly 20 years later, the APsaA says it is unaware of any related professional group that had apologized. (6/21)
The Washington Post:
How Parents Can Help Dismantle Transphobic And Homophobic School Climates
Back in the early and mid-2000s I taught sex education at an after-school program in New York City. One day we invited in some teens who were part of a local LGBTQ youth group to talk about their organization. During that conversation, it became clear that those students had experienced tremendous amounts of hostility. And, unfortunately, that seemed completely normal to all the young people in the room. (Friedrichs, 6/21)
The Washington Post:
Transgender Women Killed In Prince George's
After Ashanti Carmon was found shot dead in Prince George’s County in late March, it was the D.C. transgender advocacy community that organized a candlelight vigil, gathering a crowd under falling rain to mourn the slain transgender woman. When another transgender woman, Zoe Spears, was found gunned down recently just blocks away from where Carmon was killed in the town of Fairmount Heights , LGBTQ advocates from the District again stepped in to call attention to the homicides. (Schmidt, 6/22)
The Associated Press:
Nebraska Slowly Rolls Out Voter-Approved Medicaid Expansion
Marti Poll knows she should see a doctor. Sometimes she has a severe tightness in her chest. She also has chronic sinus and ear infections. But she can't afford the medical bills, so she simply waits and hopes the pain will subside. She thought her wait might end soon after voters approved a Medicaid expansion that would allow people like her who earn too much money to qualify for the health care program but who can't afford to buy insurance on their own. (6/23)
The Hill:
Georgia Officials Investigating After 54 Kids Sickened At Summer Camp
Georgia Department of Health officials are reportedly investigating after 54 children attending an Atlanta-area summer camp became ill. WSB-TV reported Friday that the Rock Eagle 4-H Center in Putnam County, Ga., was closed for overnight visits this week after dozens of children staying overnight reported signs of a gastrointestinal illness. (Bowden, 6/22)
The Wall Street Journal:
San Francisco Set To Ban E-Cigarettes
San Francisco is expected to become the first city in the U.S. to ban e-cigarettes this week, a move that will likely pit the city against one of its fastest-growing startups: Juul Labs Inc. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors will hold a final vote on the ordinance, which bans the sale, distribution and manufacturing of e-cigarettes, on Tuesday. The measure will then need to be signed by the mayor, London Breed. (Ansari, 6/23)
The Wall Street Journal:
Gavin Newsom Proposes Wildfire Fund To Bolster PG&E, Other California Utilities
Gov. Gavin Newsom is proposing a multibillion-dollar wildfire fund to help California’s utilities cover mounting fire-related liability costs that have threatened their financial health. The fund is part of a wider regulatory overhaul the Democratic governor unveiled Friday as he seeks to reach consensus with state lawmakers on fixing the crisis created by the collapse of PG&E Corp., which sought bankruptcy protection in January after its role in sparking wildfires created more than $30 billion in potential liabilities. (Lazo and Blunt, 6/21)
Los Angeles Times:
How A Trip On Magic Mushrooms Helped Decriminalize Psychedelic Plants In A California City
Carlos Plazola locked himself in a bedroom while his cousin stood guard. For five hours, he tripped on magic mushrooms, nibbling the fungi and sipping them in tea. He ingested 5 grams — a heady amount that connoisseurs call the “heroic dose.” It was Plazola’s first time using the mushrooms, which contain the naturally occurring hallucinogen psilocybin. He started having epiphanies, one right after the other, like lightning bolts. (Branson-Potts, 6/22)